


Everybody Wants to be a Cat! (Not Really)

by AshsHorrorShow



Category: Hustle Cat
Genre: Cat problems, Friendship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-01-05 08:51:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 13,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12186843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshsHorrorShow/pseuds/AshsHorrorShow
Summary: The life of a cat has a lot more complications then one would imagine.Or, Graves forces the crew to tell embarrassing cat stories about themselves.





	1. The Beginning

“So when you guys are cats, do you have full control of yourselves or…?” Avery began at one of their usual breakfasts. She let the question trail off awkwardly and gave a sheepish look, not sure if such a question would be considered offensive by this particular group. 

Luckily, Finley just grinned from her pancakes, showing she didn’t mind the question. Chirping lightly, she said, “For the most part!”

“For the most part…?” Avery questioned again cautiously, raising an eyebrow curiously. 

Reese threw an annoyed glance at her. Swallowing the mouthful of pancakes he had been chewing on, he said, “Do you honestly think that turning into a cat doesn’t change any of our aspects other than our physical forms?”

Avery flinched at that and ducked her head into her hoodie a bit in embarrassment, like a turtle hiding in her shell. She felt a flush rise to her cheeks and a strange need to defend herself. Voice shaky, she said, “Er, well, I was just wondering…”

Thankfully, Landry saved her from making an even bigger fool of herself by diplomatically saying, “Now Reese, it’s only natural Avery would ask such a thing. This is a lot to take in…”

“Whatever, Landry,” Reese said with an eyeroll, spearing himself another pancake from the plate in the middle of the table with his fork, “You don’t need to always come to everyone’s defense.”

“Ah don’t listen to Reese, Avery. He’s just defensive because he has one of the most embarrassing stories out of all of us about his cat instincts taking over!” Finley said, giggling behind her hand.

Reese’s face was immediately set ablaze, his eyes almost comically wide. Slamming his fist on the table, he defensively shouted, “Is not! If anything Hayes’s story is the most embarrassing!” 

Hayes, who’d been eating with them silently as always, let out a strangled sound of embarrassment, his face flushing just as brightly as Reese’s. He cringed, trying to hide his face, stammering out, "D-don't remind me!"

Avery wondered what she had just accidently started. 

Mason narrowed her eyes and said, “Don’t embarrass Hayes like that. Especially when he didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Yes ma’am,” Reese grumbled, taking a bite out of his new pancake. Avery was always somewhat taken aback by how much power Mason seemed to hold over everyone. One comment from her and even the great Reese was shutting up.

She wondered what Mason had done early in her career to set that kind of precedent. 

“Now, now,” Graves finally interjected, his voice serene. Raising his hands passively he said, “Let’s not fight. Instead, why don’t we try to make this a bonding moment between us all and share our stories with Avery?”

No one seemed happy with that prospect.

Surprisingly it was Hayes who commented first. Moaning loudly, he begged, “Please don’t…”

“Yeah, Graves,” Reese said, glaring at Avery as if she was at fault, “Why should we have to tell Avery embarrassing stuff about us?”

Graves didn’t seem fazed by the opposition. He simply said, “Avery might very well turn into a cat herself. It’s only fair she knows what to avoid and not avoid. Besides, I think it’s productive to overcome embarrassment by-”

“Yeah, yeah, old man, just say you want to laugh at our misfortune and spare us the lecture,” Reese interrupted. Avery expected him to stand up and leave, not wanting to participate in this activity, but Reese instead just put down his fork and looked around the table, saying, “So, who’s first?”

Avery had to say, she didn’t expect their opposition to be so weak. Oh well. She got comfortable in her chair. She had a sneaking suspicion that this was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we begin.
> 
> I recently played Hustle Cat and I freaking loved it... and I knew I had to make some kind of fiction dedicated to this game and this ended up coming out. Chapters will come whenever I am inspired.
> 
> I actually played Avery as all genders (and non-genders) so I had trouble deciding what to make them. I ended up doing some random number generator and set up 1 as male, 2 as female, and 3 as non-binary. I ended up getting 2 so we have a girl Avery here, but if you want to imagine her as a male or non-binary that is totally up to you. No ships are happening in this so...
> 
> Anyway, as always, critique is welcome and I hope you enjoy!


	2. Reese

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To make a long story short, let's just say, Reese isn't a dog person.

Silence hung thick in the air. Everyone at the table was either acting like they were suddenly interested in something else, or desperately looking at another person, begging them with their eyes to make the noble sacrifice and start talking. Only Graves seemed the only one unfazed, continuing to eat his meal with a small smile. Bastard.

Avery thought no one was going to speak unless Graves started calling on people when finally, Reese broke the silence by setting down his fork on his plate loudly and saying, “Alright, since all of y’all are too chicken to say anything, I guess I will be the courageous one and start first.” Then glaring at Avery, he said, “So listen up, because I ain’t repeating this story again.”

Avery found herself swallowing and nodding despite herself. How someone so small could come off as so intimidating, she would never understand. 

Reese then leaned back in his chair and began his tale, “So I was headed to an alleyway right…”

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Being a cat could be a surprisingly stressful experience when trapped outside, Reese had learned. He had always been on the shorter side as a human, a fact he fucking detested, but it was even worse as a cat. As a cat, it seemed like so many things just towered over him. If he tried to glance up the tops of buildings, he would get a sense of vertigo and even common objects such as trashcans or doors suddenly seemed larger than life. Human beings especially suddenly became ginormous and a whole lot more intimidating. Especially since many of them expected him to move out of their way so he had to constantly dart away to avoid being stepped on by some asshole.

Even when humans were actually nice to him, he always found he prefered running away. After all, he didn’t want to feel their clammy hands run through his hair (although their strokes did feel good) or hear them cooing or shrieking at him like a baby. Also, while he knew some humans had good intentions, some didn’t seem to realize how strong they were, especially when they wanted to hug or pick him up. There was many moments where he felt like he was going to be crushed or squeezed to death. Their roughness actually inspired him when he came to work to treat the cats with a delicate gentleness, never picking them up unless he had to.

And then, there were the assholes who thought pulling a cat’s tail or trying to annoy it was the height of comedy. Reese had no qualms or guilt about scratching those types of people. They deserved it after all, and for all he knew, it might be good for his survival. Graves often talked about newspaper stories reporting on cases where teenagers were going around killing stray cats for no reason. Yeah, Reese didn’t want that to be the way he was going out. 

Even when he wasn’t having to worry about humans, he had to worry about so many other things. Cars, bikes, dogs on leashes, hawks, etc. Life really sucked when everything was bigger than him and seemingly out to hurt him.

So, when he was in his cat form, Reese normally kept to himself. And by that, he meant he crept into an empty alleyway and slept under a dumpster. Not his preferred sleeping place, it certainly was no five star hotel or anything, but he learned it was the best he had usually. Not only was it somewhat sheltered, meaning he wasn’t going to be freezing to death from the chilly winds at night, but it kept people away as most humans didn’t go around looking under dumpsters. Graves had a shower he could use in his apartment, so as long as he woke up early enough, he could make it to the cafe, take a shower, and be able to get ready for the day. 

That plan hadn’t failed him yet at least.  
He crept into the alleyway, mentally hoping that it wouldn’t be too cold tonight as it was already somewhat miserable to lie on the hard ground and have to smell the dumpster contents, when suddenly he heard a noise. Tensing his body and keeping his body low to the ground, he began to pad with gentle pawsteps, swiveling his ears around, trying to figure out what the hell was making that rustling noise.

He figured it to be one of the many alley cats roaming around the city scrounging around for something to eat and groaned. Cats, especially tom cats, tended to be territorial and looking for fights, which meant Reese was probably going to have to get in a scrap before he could go to sleep. Granted, fighting off another cat wasn’t too hard. Usually a good few cuffs to the head from him would be enough to get them to run off. He didn’t even need to slide his claws out or hurt them. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to get smacked around a few times himself before that happened. He was already mentally bracing himself to be made fun of by the others when they saw the new set of scratch marks he was probably going to sport on his cheek tomorrow. 

But when craned his neck to glance over the dumpster, he was horrified to see a dog snuffling around the area, panting heavily, its tail wagging. The dog had a bright pink collar wrapped around its neck, suggesting that it was someone’s pet who got loose.

Reese wished he could say that the dog was a Rottweiler or a Doberman, something intimidating so a human could more easily sympathize with his plight. However, that was not the case. Instead it was a small dog that was hardly more than a mop of dirty white hair. Probably a mutt of some kind. Reese had faced tomcats bigger than this rat-dog. One swipe of his claws across its face would probably be enough to send it yiping away. 

But the cat in him didn’t seem to see his logic. 

Instead, a spike of pure terror shot through his body and he found his back arching, the fur on his body fluffing out like a bottlebrush. He had the strong inclination to run for his life. 

So he practically suffered a heart attack when the dog turned around and faced him, its ears pricking with interest. The two of them stared at one another for a few heartbeats, Reese thinking the dog’s eyes looked like it belonged on a wild-eyed beast. Like a rabid, bloodthirsty wolf.

Then, the cat part of him took control and he let out a hiss. This set the dog off as it let out a bark and began shooting after him like a bullet. Fear completely taking over him now, Reese immediately turned tail and ran, his heart pounding against his ribcage. 

So wrapped up in his fear he was, it almost felt like he had become disconnected from his body. Adrenaline numbed any exhaustion so he ran faster than he ever had before, his body managing to dodge any obstacles in front of him naturally. His eyes and mind weren’t paying attention to where he was or where he was going, he only cared about being safe.

Eventually though, his eyes saw a tree and seeing the opportunity, he scrambled up the tree, making sure he was a safe distance away from the dog’s snapping jaws.

The dog stood under the tree, yapping incessantly and standing up on its hind legs occasionally as if that would magically make it tall enough to reach Reese. 

Once he determined that the dog wasn’t going to be able to get him, exhaustion suddenly caught up with him, causing his muscles to sag like deflated balloons and his breath to come out in ragged pants. He was glad the branch he was now lying on was thick because if he slid off of it and fell to the ground, his muscles ached too much to actually move anymore. His fate would be entirely left up to whatever the dog decided to do with him.

He kept his eyes glued to the dog who was spinning in circles around the tree, barking. It still looked determined to get him, suggesting it wasn’t going to give up anytime soon. Looking up at the sky, he grimaced at the fact it was dark already, small stars scattered across the sky. He had a bad feeling that this was going to be a long night.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He was never going to escape. He was going to starve to death on this tree.

It was well into the morning now and the dog was still poised at the tree, looking up. It had lost its voice throughout the night, so it could only let out ragged yips now, but it didn’t stop its watch out. It was persistent. 

Reese honestly wanted to cry. He was hungry, his muscles were still sore, his mouth was dry, and he hadn’t slept a wink that night in fear he would fall off the tree. He wondered if he was simply going to have to risk leaping off the tree and making a mad dash to the cafe. Could he even make it? Where the hell even was he? He didn’t know. Despair crept up his body.

All of a sudden, he heard a shrill voice say, “Dexter! Is that you?”

Both he and the dog turned at the voice. He saw a stout old lady with an obnoxiously pink outfit on walking over, a leash in hand. The dog immediately let out a ragged yelp of excitement and raced over to his owner, jumping into his arm. The lady immediately began to scold the dog, complaining, “I can’t turn my back on you for a second without losing you. What if you were hit by a car? I have to install an electric fence for you…”

She began to jabber away about several other things as she walked away, the dog in her arms, its tail wagging a million miles an hour. Clearly she didn’t see him. 

Sighing with relief, and wondering how he he was going to get back home, Reese slowly and arduously began clambering down the tree, when suddenly another voice scared him out of his grip, causing him to fall to the ground in a graceless heap.

“Reese, it’s me!”

He recognized that voice. He thought he might’ve been hallucinating from hunger and thirst for a moment, but the calico face looking down at his fallen form confirmed that it was indeed Finley speaking to him.

“Finley… how did you…” he began, his throat aching.

“We were worried when you didn’t show up because besides Mason, you are always the first to show. So Graves sent me out to find you!” Finley chirped as Reese began pulling himself up, shaking the dirt out of his pelt. He was grateful at the sight of the girl but was too tired to properly express it.

Finley gently swiped her tail underneath his chin, and said, “Now come on. Landry and Hayes are over here thinking you died.”

Reese simply nodded compliantly and began to follow her. But as he walked with the she-cat, he saw a smile playing on her lips. Never a good sign when it came to Finley. Worst of all, he had a feeling that he knew exactly what she was smiling about.

Side-eyeing her, he meowed, “How much of that did you see?”

Finley grinned now proudly, saying, “Just enough to see that you were treed by a little dog like that and had to be saved by a grandma!” Then she burst out laughing. 

Reese felt embarrassment heat up his pelt despite himself, tail twitching. He had a feeling he was going to get a round of mockery once he got back to the cafe and Finley no doubt broadcasted the story for the whole place to hear. 

Damn dogs…

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Reese was finished with the story, Finley was giggling behind her hand like a little kid causing Reese to glare at her. 

“Not funny, Finley,” Reese growled. 

Avery herself was trying to hold back giggles. Maintaining a sense of composure though, she just asked, “So I am guessing after that experience, you’re not much of a dog person?”

Reese glanced at her like she was the stupidest person in the world. Rolling his eyes, he picked up his coffee mug, growled, “Obviously,” before slamming the drink down.

Smacking the mug down, he said, “Alright, who is next?”


	3. Mason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oooh... that's gonna be a bit of a problem.

An awkward silence took hold of the group once more. Avery hoped this wouldn’t become a recurring trend because she couldn’t handle secondhand embarrassment very well. As if her body wanted to prove this point, she began shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Luckily, she didn’t have suffer for very long as Mason let out a defeated sigh. Running a hand through her coarse hair, the girl said, “I suppose I will go next.”

Avery felt a spike of interest despite herself. Out of all the people in the group, she had expected Mason to be one of the last to go, if she would go at all. Avery had a feeling that no one, not even the great and powerful Graves, would be able to wheedle any information out of her that she didn’t want to tell. After all, Avery had worked with the girl for two weeks now and Avery still hardly knew anything about the other girl. What little she did know about her, Avery had the feeling she only knew because Mason _allowed_ her to know it. The tall girl was rather private in nature and tough as a rock and yet here she was willing to divulge in telling a potentially embarrassing story about herself.

Avery began leaning in with interest despite herself. She didn’t have to feel too bad though as most of the other people at the table also seemed to be doing the same. Hell, even Hayes had his eyes glued onto Mason, though he was trying to act discreet about it.

Mason looked at them all with a neutral expression before starting off, “I would like to preface this by saying this er… affliction, I suppose, of mine had only lasted for a week.”  
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..  
Mason liked to think that she was a calm and cool-headed girl. She thought it was a fair assumption. Hell, her new boss had told her the second day of her new job that she was soon going to turn into a cat every time she left the café, and she had managed to get through that whole conversation without breaking down into theatrics or giving her boss a black eye despite how much she wanted to.

But this… this new affliction she developed, might be enough to cause her to have an emotional breakdown.

She sat at one of the small café tables, elbows on the table so she could put her face in her hands. One of her long knees bounced up and down anxiously.

It felt weird to still be in the café this late. Normally, she was the first one to leave every night. Usually by the time she left, Reese was usually jabbering away about something (usually scolding one of the cats as he put them in their kennels), Landry was usually doing some last-minute touch ups on something or another, and Hayes was usually washing dishes. But now that those three had long since left the place, the café was strangely quiet and dark and felt unusually dead and empty. The usually noisy cats weren’t even meowing.

This creepy feeling made her want to leave even more, but she stayed put, praying Graves would wander out of his apartment to do last minute check-ups. She had a running theory in her mind that Graves was a secret vampire and hoped that would cause him to be more active at night.

Sure enough, five minutes later, she heard the doorknob turn upstairs, and when she looked up, she saw Graves walking out of his apartment, his old cat Dracula darting out after him. She watched in silence as he smiled at the old cat and began cooing at her, the two of them padding down the stairs. When he finally noticed her, he paused and gave her a curious look before saying, “Mason? What are you still doing here so late? Normally you’re first to leave…”

Mason stood up from her chair and nodded, “I know. But I had something I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t want to bother you in your office so- “

Graves gave her a friendly smile and waved his hand in the air, chiding, “Mason, Mason, you’re too polite! If you have something important to tell me just knock on my door and I would be happy to- “

“I would like to quit my position here at The Cat’s Paw.” Mason said suddenly. She immediately clapped her hand over her mouth after saying it, heat flushing to her cheeks from embarrassment. She hadn’t meant to say it so abruptly or to interrupt him, but when he had been jabbering away and being so friendly, her stressed body couldn’t take it anymore and had expelled the words that had been bouncing around in her chest out into the open.

Well it was too late. She said it. She might as well own it. It was the truth after all. She removed her hand from her mouth.

Graves blinked in confusion for a moment, as if locked in a stunned silence, before he let out a small, “…what?”

Mason stood her ground, despite the guilt gnawing at her stomach. Standing tall, she said in a clear voice, “I would like to quit working at The Cat’s Paw. Don’t worry, I don’t expect that quitting will stop me from turning into a cat, and I suppose I will have no choice but to live with that. But I simply cannot allow myself to continue employment here, sir.”

She looked him in the eyes as she said this, doing her best to be as respectful as possible. Much as she hated to admit it, she had grown fond of her boss over the week she had worked here, and she didn’t want to be rude to him. She just hoped he would understand.

Graves once again seemed like he was in a confused silence before he nodded and said, “Er, of course. I wouldn’t want you to work anywhere you don’t want to and obviously, you put a lot of thought into this. But if you don’t mind me asking… why the sudden quit? Is something wrong? Do you want to not work in the kitchen anymore or is someone working here harassing you, because if so- “

He shut up when he saw Mason shake her head ‘no.’ Taking the silence as her chance to speak, Mason dipped her head and said, “Don’t blame yourself for my leaving. It is not the fault of anybody working here or the facility itself. My leaving is due to my own…” She swallowed and forced herself to say the word, “…ineptitude.”

It felt like a knife twisting in her gut. She looked down at her scuffed-up shoes, so her boss didn’t see the hot tears of shame forming in her eyes. She wasn’t used to feeling so useless. She wasn’t used to quitting either. But if there was one feeling she hated more than feeling useless or being a quitter, it was being a burden. She had to do this.

Graves raised an eyebrow and said, “Now what in the world makes you think you’re inept?”

Mason found herself flushing once more with embarrassment. She had really hoped Graves wouldn’t ask, but she supposed he deserved to know.

This wasn’t going to be fun.

Seeming to sense her reluctance, he approached the opposite chair of the table she had sat at and gestured for her sit as well. She did so. Dracula immediately hopped onto Graves lap and curled up comfortably, and Graves began to stroke the cat’s back, her purrs being let out and comforting Mason just a little. Cats had that way about them.

The two of them sat for a few seconds before Graves prompted, “So what is this all about?”

Mason sighed, figuring she might as well just say it, “I keep breaking things. Somewhat intentionally.”

“Somewhat intentionally?” Graves asked.

Mason sighed, “Like I don’t want to do it… but I also do. It’s hard to explain.”

“Try me.”

Mason sighed once more and began belting off the most recent story she had in mind. She had been working in the kitchen with Hayes. The café had gotten an unusually larger number of customers than usual and, so they were working double time in the kitchen. She and Hayes were constantly switching between cooking and brewing the coffee and washing the dishes at a constant rate. At that moment in time, she was cooking up doughnuts and Hayes was washing the dishes, as there were no recent orders in coffee. The blond was working diligently, washing and drying all the plates and stacking them neatly on top of one another. She appreciated working with Hayes a lot. Not only was the blond not talkative, which is something she personally enjoyed, but he also worked efficiently and well. It made work in the kitchen so much easier. In a way, she valued him a lot.

So why was her mind telling her to fuck up what he was working on?

As she sat watching the doughnuts fry, her eyes kept being drawn back to the dishes he had stacked up and her mind kept saying the same thing over and over again like a mantra.

‘Push them off the counter.’

‘Push them off the counter.’

‘Push them off the counter.’

It was driving her insane. Of course, she didn’t want to push the plates off the counter. She knew logically, it didn’t make sense to do so, for many reasons: it would be depleting them of supplies, it was rude, it would get glass everywhere, she would have to pick up the shards, it was unnecessary, it would upset Hayes…

Pushing down the stack of dishes would be totally illogical.

But some part of her mind didn’t see it like that. Some part of her was scrambling, desperately wanting to push the plates down. Trying to convince her mind that it really was an appealing idea. They were just sitting there so perfectly. Didn’t she want to hear the satisfying crash? Didn’t she want to push them off?

She told herself firmly that, no, no she didn’t.

But the minute Hayes turned around to go and dry his hands...

CRASH.

All of a sudden at least half of the plates were broken in shards on the floor and Mason was sitting there looking guilty and apologizing. She had only meant to tap them, to get that urge somewhat satisfied and instead she pushed them.

This would’ve been alright if this was the first time it happened. But it wasn’t. This had been happening for three whole days now. Just sudden urges to push down pans or plates or kitchen utensils off the counter. She must be going mad.

Of course, she could see the disappointment and annoyance on Hayes face when he helped her clean up the shards, but of course the kid was too nice to say anything about it, just like always. Maybe that was a good thing because Mason was already beating herself up enough about it. But that final incident had made her realize, she couldn’t work in the kitchen like this. It wasn’t fair to Hayes and it wouldn’t end up being good for production.

Then she had contemplated taking over one of the other jobs in the café, but she couldn’t do that either, now could she? A waitress couldn’t exactly be pushing orders down or stuff like that, and she couldn’t get away with playing with the cats all day.

So, in the end, concluding she would not be able to control herself, she figured it would be best for everyone involved if she just quit now and simply disappeared.

She ended her story with that sad note, looking down at her hands which she had been fiddling around with the whole time she told the tale. She thought Graves would agree that it was probably for the best and start writing the pink slip. But instead, the bastard started… laughing.

He was giggling like a child. Mason looked up in shock and part of her almost felt angry at the fact he seemed to be mocking her pain.

Anger evident in her voice, she demanded, “What’s so funny?!”

Graves sobered up a little bit, wiping at his eyes, though the mirth was still in his voice as he said, “I apologize for my rudeness, Mason, but you have the most amusing trait yet.”

Confused, Mason said, “Trait?”

“Everyone when they first start being a cat will get these overwhelming urges or traits. Reese was preening more than usual and constantly fixing his hair. Landry was constantly hopping on things or lounging on them. Heck, Hayes was even only picking at food for a while. After a week, they all got over it, but they were also pretty upset themselves.”

“So, wait, it’s not something wrong with me?” Mason said, confusion still in her voice.

Graves shook his head, “No, it’s just a normal reaction into turning into a cat for the first time. I am guessing that is why Hayes was not commenting when you knocked over the plates. I don’t think his silence was just because he was trying to be nice. I think he knows what you’re going through.”

Mason suddenly felt a rush of relief going through her. Voice shaky, she said, “So what you just said… this is only temporary right?”

Graves nodded, “Usually takes people a week to adjust but with how much you’re already fighting your instincts, something tells me it will only be a couple of days with you. There was nothing wrong with you at all, just a simple misunderstanding!”

Mason said, “But what am I going to- “

Graves waved his hand, “Just tell Hayes what you told me, and he will keep an eye on you and make sure you don’t go knocking things around. I am guessing though since you are asking me what to do you are considering not quitting?”

Mason mumbled, “Well… I was in any particular rush to quit anyway so…”

Graves laughed, “Glad to hear it, Mason. The café wouldn’t be the same without you.”

Mason despite herself, smiled.  
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….  
“Awww Mason, that was so cute!” Graves chirped suddenly, causing Mason to let out a soft blush as she looked away.

“You’re only saying that because it painted you in a good light!” Reese snapped, glaring at Graves in annoyance.

“Well what can I say? I was quite a good and caring boss in that story, no?” Graves said with a shrug, not missing a beat.

“I guess…” Reese conceded.

“Gosh! I was there the whole time and I didn’t know any of this,” Landry exclaimed in shock. “Why didn’t you say anything, Mason? Reese and I could’ve helped out Hayes too.”

“What happens in the kitchen, stays in the kitchen.” Mason said vaguely.

“What the hell does that even mean?” Reese demanded.

“Let’s not get off-topic!” Finley said, too joyfully for her own damn good, “We still got a bunch of juicy stories to tell.”

“Finley is a movie villain, I swear. Like an evil queen or something,” Avery found herself commenting, and judging from the mischievous smile, Finley appreciated the comment.

Clapping her hands, Finley said, “And the villainous queen says that someone must start a story!”


	4. Finley

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh. Well... that's nice. 
> 
> TW: Minor animal death.

Reese crossed his arms and gave Finley an annoyed look, commenting, “I say, since Queen Finley seems so eager for other people to go, that we all band together and make her go next.”

“What?!” Finley shrieked, looking exaggeratedly flabbergasted. Placing a hand over her heart in melodramatic disbelief, she looked across the table at the others and said, “Can you believe the absolute nerve of this _peasant_?”

“Peasant?!” Reese repeated, shock written all over his face.

“Yes, peasant,” Finley said, crossing her own arms, “You’re lucky I don’t have your head for talking such treason!” 

“You’re all hearing this right?” Reese said, looking at the others for help, annoyance growing on his boyish features.

“They hear it alright, but they know better than to talk back to the Queen. After all, her word is law!” Finley chirped proudly. 

Avery felt like she had gotten trapped in a bad skit of some kind and while part of her wanted a way out, the other part was on the edge of her seat, waiting to see how this would all play out. This was more dramatic than any Shakespeare play she had been forced to read in high school.

Avery was waiting to hear what Reese’s comeback would be, when all of a sudden, Graves stepped in out of nowhere by saying, “Actually Finley, I must make a correction. Over here in America, monarchies are not allowed to have any authority and instead we run via a democracy.” Then, clapping his hands, he stood up and said, “So, as Americans, let’s practice our ideals now and hold a vote! All in favor of Finley going next, raise your hands.”

Everyone at the table except Finley raised their hand.

“Traitors! All of you!” Finley screeched in offense, the noise scaring Bramblepelt, who was sitting near the table, into fleeing to the other side of the cafe. Reese let out a laugh and smiled at her smugly, which caused Finley to shoot him a glare. But soon her glare turned to Mason, who met it coolly, her face not changing expression. Shaking her head, Finley said, “I would expect such behavior from the others… but you too, Mason?”

Et tu, Mason?

Mason shrugged, saying, “What can I say, I was curious about what your story is. Don’t think I’ve ever heard it.”

Finley sighed in defeat and leaned back in her chair, carding her long, slender fingers through her long, brunette hair as she said, “Fine. I was going to save mine until near the end, so all of you could have time to digest your food, but since y’all insisted…”

All of a sudden everyone at the table began to look slightly nervous as a wicked look came over Finley’s face. Never a good sign. 

Oh well, no going back now. 

Clearing her throat, Finley said, “So it all happened one spring night-”  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Finley was starving. 

She wanted to cry at the unfair nature of it all. Of course, throughout the whole day, she hadn’t felt hungry at all, so as a result, she had eaten only a very little. But now that it was the middle of the night and most businesses were closed, that was when her stomach decided to howl in hunger. She curled into a tighter ball, hoping sleep would take mercy and blanket over her. After all, if she could just sleep through the night, then she could run to the cafe in the morning and gorge herself on Mason’s doughnuts until she felt like she would pop and she would be good. She would not have to hunt around for scraps like a rat.

Easier said than done though, as her stomach began to kick her in the gut with hunger pains, distracting her thoughts into focusing on nothing but that. 

After twenty minutes of sheer torture, Finley finally couldn’t take it anymore. She had to get something in her stomach. 

Hopping off the box she had been sleeping on, she began padding across the dirty streets, trying to think of any place that would still be open at this hour. Perhaps she could wait outside a fast food place. She had done that before and had found out people tended to toss her a couple of fries whenever they saw her. Sometimes, she even could snag a chicken nugget or a piece of hamburger if they were feeling extra generous. She practically drooled at the thought. Ever since she was forced to transform into a cat, she found she craved and enjoyed meat a lot more than she previously had. 

Deciding that would be her game plan, she broke out into a trot, ready to start the mission, when suddenly heard a small shuffling sound. Sensitive ears pricking with interest, she stopped and swiveled them, trying to pinpoint where the noise was coming from. Turning her head to a dark alleyway to her left, her eyes immediately caught the source of the noise. 

A small, dusky brown mouse was clambering and snuffling on top of a cardboard box, blissfully unaware of her presence. 

Now Finley, unlike most girls, liked mice. She thought they were small and cute and had the most adorable ears ever! But the pique of interest that hit her when she saw that mouse right then wasn’t one of joy at seeing the creature. No, instead, it was one of hunger and the intense desire to catch it.

Immediately, Finley tried to resist. She didn’t want a cute, little mouse’s life to hang over her conscious nor did she want to eat it. But a part of her - a whole separate entity that seemed to be sharing a body with her - did and it was taking control. Against her will, she felt her body go into a crouch, her belly low to the ground, tail flat as she slowly but surely crept towards the mouse, who was still too busy in its search for food to notice her. She mentally began praying it would look up and see her and run away, so this beast within her would give up and she could move on with her life and eat something that wasn’t alive. But alas, it didn’t. 

She tried once more to take control of her body, as she her muscles bunch together and butt wiggle in the air, preparing for a pounce. She tried everything to get control of her own body, but it was a fruitless attempt. She soon found herself leaping in the air, her front paws landing square on the mouse. Then, before the creature could probably fully realize what was happening, she quickly bit into its neck and it fell limp.

Finley wanted to cry. Whether it was for the poor mouse who lost its life or for herself for having killed it with her MOUTH of all things, she wasn’t sure. Either way, she felt terrible. 

But right as she was about to lament the fact she couldn’t physically cry in her cat body, the taste of blood actually fully bathed her tongue, and now that she was actually tasting it, it actually tasted… good. Totally different from what it tasted when she just had her human taste buds. With those, blood tasted metallic and gross. But with her current feline tongue, the blood tasted a nice combination of salty and tangy. Like a soup. 

Finley shook her head. Was she insane? She was thinking the blood of a mouse tasted god! She needed to walk away. Leave the mouse’s body for some alleycat to eat and go feast on fast food. 

So, taking back control of her body (of course, she could now), she turned and walked away, original mission goal in mind, eager to try and repress the memory of any of this going down. But when she reached the end of the alleyway, she stopped.

She told herself to keep moving. She could eat some nice, greasy, salty fries if she just kept moving and not a dead body- 

However, another part of her wasn’t seeing it that way. It argued that the fast food place was still two blocks away and even if she got there, she probably wouldn’t manage to get a lot of food from anyone and what little food she did get, it would be only the bad stuff, like overly-soggy fries that none of the humans wanted or a hamburger that was just a little too cold. Besides, she didn’t want Mr. Squeaks to have died for nothing. By eating him, she would be making his sacrifice worth it, at least according to the law of the jungle and-

No. No! She had to be sensible. She was not a wild cat. She was a human girl with a regular access to food and normal social conventions and- 

She was back at the mouse’s body. Great.

She carefully regarded the mouse’s body. One bite couldn’t hurt, right? Once she realized how gross it tasted, she would spit it out and return to her senses. Then she could move on with her life. So, closing her eyes so she didn’t have to look at what she was about to dig into, she leaned down and bit. 

Okay, the crunch and the pop was gross but…

Holy crap. That was good.

Suddenly, Finley wasn’t minding what she was eating. She began voraciously ripping and swallowing. The meat was so juicy, the blood complimenting the flavor so nicely. It made her tail curl with pleasure. 

She ate and ate until…  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“...there was nothing left,” Finley finished, shaking her head and running her fingers through her hair again. Looking down at the table, she said, “I was happy at the time, but I got to say… not one of my proudest moments.” Clasping her hands in prayer, she said, “Rest in peace, little mousie.”

Everyone at the table looked vaguely disgusted and horrified and no one was touching any of the remaining food. Mason looked like she was actually turning green, which made Avery feel a little concerned. 

It was Reese who spoke, curling his lip as he said, “You are disgusting.”

Finley looked nonplussed. A sing-song in her voice, she chirped, “Told you all that you would regret it!” Then leaning over, she said, “Well, I got mine over with. Who is next?”


	5. Hayes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You got to resist that temptation, kid. 
> 
> (Also, unrelated note, but I have been thinking of changing the title of this story to: Everybody Wants to Be a Cat (Not Really). But I already kind of have five chapters in this so, like, is it too late? Give your opinions.

Avery braced for the awkward stare down that was inevitably going to come, when suddenly Graves interjected by saying, “As the boss of this establishment, I personally nominate Hayes to go next.”

“WHAT?!” Hayes screeched, causing everyone at the table to flinch. That was the loudest Avery had ever heard Hayes speak, and judging by the flabbergasted looks of everyone else at the table, she saw that she was not alone. Everyone looked a little frazzled. 

Hayes, seeming to realize how loud he just was, clapped a hand over his mouth and ducked his head in embarrassment. While she couldn’t see from where she was sitting, Avery could guess he was blushing quite furiously. Once he seemed to trust himself to speak, Hayes slowly looked at Graves and said, “Why?”

“Because watching you go stiff as a corpse everytime we need to pick someone is giving me secondhand stress,” Graves said immediately, seeming to have no qualms for how anxious Hayes was looking. Graves could be quite brutal at times.

Landry, seemingly taking pity on Hayes, said, “Well I can go before him if it-”

Graves quickly shut that down.

Raising his hand, Graves said, “That is very nice of you, Landry, but Hayes needs to do this. You taking his place is only delaying the inevitable. It’s like ripping off a bandaid. He might as well just get it over with.”

Landry nodded reluctantly, throwing Hayes an apologetic look.

Then, leaning back, Graves said with a smile, “Plus, I have to admit, I am quite curious about what Hayes’ story is.”

Hayes actually gaped at Graves bluntness. Avery didn’t blame him. She was pretty sure that she herself was gaping. 

Reese shook his head, saying, “You’re a terrible man, Graves.”

For a while, Hayes was silent, just staring at the table. Avery wondered if he was just going to play the Silent Card until Landry’s natural niceness couldn’t take it over and just began telling his story, when Hayes began.

“Ugh… this is so embarrassing-”  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This was absolutely, positively awful. 

Not only was he late for work, not only was he scared out of his mind, and not only was he stuck in a tree… but now firemen were involved. 

He shrunk down and wished a black hole would suddenly appear and swallow him whole. 

He didn’t think embarrassment or anxiety could bother him in his cat form as much it did his in his human form. However, he was wrong. Heat burned under his pelt, his ears flat as he began anxiously licking at his pelt, not knowing what else to do. 

He sunk his claws into the bark of the tree, partly due to nerves. But another, darker part of him vengefully hoping that the tree could feel it somehow. After all, it was partially its fault he was in this situation in the first place. 

Back before the curse, he had been somewhat of a greenthumb. While he didn’t have a full-fledged garden or anything (he lived in a city, where would he find the room to do that?), he had owned quite a few flowers and cacti, all of which he dutifully took care of. But now that he was a cat, plants were his worst enemies.

Stay clear of anything green! That was his new motto now that he had to turn into a cat every time he left his workplace. After all, most plants were poisonous for him to ingest, and other plants, such as grass would make him vomit. Okay, seemed simple enough to remember and uphold. Or so he thought. Unfortunately, plants smelled tantalizingly good to a cat and it drew some part of him to it and it took a huge amount of effort to pad away.

But he’d always managed to move past the temptation. It was hard every now and again, but with enough willpower, he could get through it. But there was always one temptation that he always really struggled to resist, and that temptation came in the form of wanting to climb trees. 

Normally, Hayes preferred being a cat as opposed to being a human. There was pressures and expectations when he was a cat versus when he was a human. The only thing expected of a cat was that they be cute, and in this form, that was pretty easy. But if there was one time he really wanted to turn back into a human, it was when his cat form was faced with a tree.

Because then, he had to try and walk away while every inch of his body itched to try and get him to climb whatever stupid tree it felt tempted to climb that day. He knew logically, it wasn’t a good idea. After all, he couldn’t even climb up and down a tree as a human. He didn’t think he’d fare much better as a cat. But even with that logic in mind, the appeal was strong. 

Thankfully, Hayes had a lot of self-control and was always able to resist the urge. Until today.

He had been walking to work, forcing his eyes to stare straight ahead and not look at any trees. Once he got out of this sidewalk area lined with trees, he would be safely behind the doors of work and would be able to forget about trees for a while.

As he was reminding himself of this, he suddenly heard a screech. Looking up from where the source of the noise came from, he saw a big fat squirrel chattering and flicking its bushy tail at him. He tried to look away, but it was too late. The cat inside him had seen it, gotten interested, and before he knew it, he was scrambling up the tree with practiced ease, hellbent on catching that squirrel.

The squirrel immediately panicked and began scurrying higher up the tree before Hayes could grab it. He continued his pursuit however. The two of them climbed and climbed and his cat form probably would’ve followed it all the way up to the top when he and his cat form suddenly noticed just how far up he had climbed. Terror now seizing his body, the cat part of him retreated back, leaving him to deal with its mess.

Now it was Hayes’ turn to panic. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to climb down the tree. Part of him knew he should probably jump down, but the thought of dropping from this height made him dizzy. The fact that his cat body would probably ensure that he landed on his feet didn’t mean he wouldn’t break his legs or any of his other bones on the way down. 

He groaned. Not only was he in this bad situation, but he was going to be late to work as well. 

Stress, anxiety, and fear began overwhelming him. Soon, Hayes, unable to think of anything else, did the only thing he could think of. That being to lie down and begin to mewl pathetically. 

Apparently, his despaired meows caught the attention of a few street-goers, as a small crowd began forming under him, pointing and staring and murmuring, which caused him to shrink back more, heat burning his pelt. Ugh, why did the world hate him? 

He placed his paws over his eyes and just laid there for a while. But then, he heard the sound of a truck. A big truck. Peeking out from between his paws, he looked down and nearly suffered a heart attack when he saw a fire truck.

Oh no, no, no….

He had been banking on one of the workers from A Cat’s Paw to go looking for him and help explain to him how to get down. He didn’t want firemen involved!

But this was happening. The firemen set up the ladder on the tree and began climbing up. 

This was bad. This was so, so bad. 

Not only was he embarrassed, but now he was more afraid than ever. There was a good chance once they got him, they were intending to take him to the animal shelter, which was the absolute WORST place he could think of going. He could envision it now: smelly place, sad animals, small cage, not being adopted because he was shy, being put to sleep because of that.

The thought made him want to pass out.

He began yowling with fright at the fireman, who was gently cooing at him, his back arching. He tried to back away from the approaching gloved hand, but it was no use. The fireman grabbed him uncomfortably by the scruff of his neck and picked him up like he weighed nothing more than a paper bag, seeming to sense he would be too scared to put up a struggle. 

Hayes began kissing his life goodbye as the fireman began climbing down, Hayes now squeezed snugly under his armpit, down to a crowd of cheering and clapping people. 

When they reached the bottom, Hayes decided he had one last burst of energy left in him. His survival instinct kicked in, if you will. The minute he saw the fireman’s feet hit the ground, he began thrashing like he never thrashed before. The firefighter tried to tighten his hold on him to prevent his escape, but unfortunately for him, Hayes was just to skinny and slippery. 

The minute he felt his paws touch the ground, he ran. He ran faster than he probably ever ran before. He ran and ran until he reached the cafe, bursting through the doors. 

He heard the customers at the restaurant sneeze simultaneously as he transformed into a human, panting for air and sweating like a hog. 

“Hayes? Where were you? We were worried about you!” Finely said, trotting over to him and looking him up and down. 

Hayes looked at her with pleading eyes, huffing, “Please… don’t ask.”

\--------------------------------------------------------------  
“I wasted those poor firemen's’ time,” Hayes groaned, hiding his face in his hands, “Someone could’ve been dying in a fire and yet they had to save me!”

Finley said, “Eh. I doubt they had anything to do it. Never heard of a fire happening near here. If anything, I am more mad at you for getting my hopes up?”

“Eh?” Hayes said, removing his hands and looking at her in shock.

Reese answered for her, “You kind of built that story up as some big embarrassing thing, but it was just kind of eh.”

“Yeah! Reese’s was way more embarrassing!” Finley chirped, causing Reese to immediately squabble with her. 

Hayes just stayed silent and stared at the table as they argued, so Graves sighed, looked at Landry, and said, “Thank god you're the end of this whole thing, Landry.” 


	6. Landry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Landry doesn't live the most exciting of lives.

“Well, your torture is finally over, Hayes,” Graves announced with a clap of his hands. Then, drawing his gaze over towards Landry, he said, “And it seems that leaves us with just one more person to hear from.”

“Fuckin’ finally too…” Reese grumbled, “Never thought there would be a moment where I’d actually _want_ breakfast to come to an end until now.”

“Oh, come on, Reese,” Graves said serenely. “These stories wound up being a great bonding experience for all of us-”

“Can it, old man,” Reese hissed mercilessly, “No one is fooled by the act.”

Graves sighed, “So little faith in me. It’s quite disheartening really.” Turning to Landr, he said, “Well, Landry, we’re all ready. Shoot.” 

Landry gave a conflicted look, biting his lip absently, as if he were deep in thought. A silence pervaded the room for a moment before Reese and Finley broke it. 

“Come _on _, Landry,” Reese groaned exasperatedly, covering his face with his hands. “Just spit it out already and end this torture session!”__

__“Yeah!” Finley piped up, “We all told ours, so just do it. Can’t be worse Reese’s!”_ _

__Reese threw her a deadly glare, hissing, “Bring mine up one more time and I swear I will dump all of your nail polish.”_ _

__“You would not,” Finley gasped, shooting up from her chair and bristling at the threat._ _

__“Try me,” Reese shot back, standing up himself, his voice full of conviction._ _

__The two of them were glaring at each other so heatedly now, Avery nervously wondered if an actual altercation was about to go down._ _

__“Now, now,” Graves sighed, waving his hands down placatingly, “Let’s try to not turn this nice breakfast into an elementary school fight, shall we? Let’s all act like adults here.”_ _

__Finley and Reese, much to Avery’s relief, did sit back down. As he did though, Reese grumbled, “You and I must have a different idea of what qualifies as ‘nice’, Graves.”_ _

__“Pointedly ignoring that comment,” Graves said curtly to him before turning to Landry and saying, “Finley and Reese are right about one thing though, Landry. It’s only fair you tell a story as well. There is no need to be shy. Everyone else has shared, after all.”_ _

__Landry looked exasperated now. Combing his long fingers through his hair, he said, “I know, I know… it’s not that I am too embarrassed to go, it’s just… I can’t _think_ of a story to tell.”_ _

__Everyone blinked at him._ _

__“You had all that time…” Mason began, arching one of her eyebrows.  
“And you couldn’t think of _one_ story to tell?” Finely asked, disbelief evident in her tone. Avery couldn’t help but agree. They had been here at this table for a pretty long time. She was actually surprised a customer hadn’t walked in yet. Thank god for slow days, she supposed…_ _

__Landry was looking even more sheepish now, ducking his head slightly, shrugging his shoulders helplessly._ _

__“Wait,” Reese said, holding up a hand. Pointing at Landry, he said, “Landry, didn’t you volunteer to go for Hayes beforehand?”_ _

__“Uh… yeah?” Landry said, slowly, as if he was trying to gauge what exactly he did wrong. The normally calm boy looked uncomfortable now, squirming a bit in his chair. It was practically killing Avery’s second hand embarrassment to watch._ _

__Mason seemed to catch what Reese was going on about. Raising her own brow, she said, “So you volunteered to go before Hayes despite having no story of your own?”_ _

__“...Maybe?” Landry said._ _

__Reese shook his head in disbelief, “I’ll never understand you goody-two-shoe types.”_ _

__Finley gazed at Landry skeptically, “How can you not have _any_ stories? You’ve been a cat longer than most of us!” _ _

__“I agree and trust me, I have a little cat instinct-related mishaps here and there, but not STORY-WORTHY ones,” Landry explained._ _

__“Oh, I am sure you’re just being too hard on yourself, Landry,” Graves said, waving his hand. “Just tell us one of the mishaps. Not all of these have to be long spiels. An anecdote is fine too.”_ _

__“Plus, keeping it short will end our suffering faster,” Reese pointed out, taking his hat off to run a hand through his hair. The others murmured in agreement._ _

__Landry looked around at everyone at the table, clearly feeling conflicted, before he sighed in defeat and said, “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you all…”_ _

__\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_ _

__Landry finished off the remaining drops of coffee in his cup, ignoring the bitter flavor. Part of him wanted to go upstairs and ask for a refill, but he also knew if he did, he would have to awkwardly endure Mason and Hayes looks of concern. Not that he blamed them. He knew he looked like he had a caffeine problem. The cup he just finished was his third today._ _

__And that was what sucked about the whole thing. He didn’t have a problem. Well, okay, _technically_ he did, but not a caffeine related one. In fact, he hated coffee and caffeinated beverages in general. If he was rid of his other problem, he would not even hesitate in dropping coffee for good. It was bitter, strong, nasty, and made him feel jittery…_ _

__But unfortunately, he couldn’t quit drinking coffee. It was the only lifeline he had on making it through work awake._ _

__Before he began working at the Cat’s Paw, Landry had always had a good sleeping schedule. He went to bed at a certain time and he woke up at a certain time. That was it. With just a simple routine, he felt refreshed and chipper almost every day. He never had to rely on caffeine nor did he ever feel the urge to take a nap. He never found himself yawning all the time like some of the people in his life and he never remembered once having bags under his eyes._ _

__But now, it was almost a completely different story. Ever since he had been afflicted with this cat curse, his sleep schedule had been all out of whack. Gone were the days of consistent night sleeps. They happened only once in a blue moon now, if he happened to have a really busy day at work (which was a rarity). Excluding those moments, how he spent his nights was a complete wild card._ _

__Some nights he could catch a few hours of sleep, before he was suddenly up, buzzing with energy and wanting to move. So he would be spending the rest of his night wandering around the city. Occasionally, a part of him would try to catch certain animals, but he seemed to have no talent for it, much to his delight. He really didn’t want to taste what raw sparrow tasted like._ _

__Other days, sleep wouldn’t even be a factor. He’d be buzzing with energy and he would want to move around all night. And then, of course by the time morning came and he had to go to work, that was when his body would suddenly wilt with tiredness._ _

__Some days he would feel sleepiness hit him at random points of the day. He would be totally fine one moment, and then suddenly, he felt like he hadn’t slept for days._ _

__It was rough and hard to follow and it was leaving him feeling like a walking disaster._ _

__He was determined however, to get through this. He had managed to grow out of all of his other cat impulses, and he was sure he would do the same with this one. He just had to wait it out. He always tried to go to bed at his usual time in his cat form, in the hopes that his torment was finally over, but as of yet, that had yet to happen._ _

__Sighing, he decided he would get another cup of coffee after he finished fixing that chair that Finley and a couple of customers had been complaining about. Apparently one of the legs was rickety. The time it would take him to fix it up should give him at least a reasonable enough time gap to be able to ask for another coffee and not get judged too harshly._ _

__So wandering over, he set the chair down and got to work, fighting with his eyelids the whole entire time._ _

__The chair faced one of the large windows, sunlight beaming in and caressing the area. It felt really good. Too good. This was not helping his tiredness. He felt like he was wrapped in a warm blanket._ _

__No… he had to focus. He could get through this. If he did, he would get a cup of intensely bitter coffee as a reward._ _

__Okay… that admittedly, that wasn’t very motivating._ _

__Somehow, he managed to get the job done without collapsing on top of the chair and falling asleep._ _

__Placing his hand on the crest rail of the chair, he shook it back and forth, satisfied that it didn’t look off-balance. But he had to test if it could stand weight. So he sat down, and was promptly satisfied when it felt stable._ _

__He sat in the chair for a moment to look at the sights outside. He saw someone walking a rather cute white dog outside and smiled at the sight. Slowly, but surely he got more and more comfortable. The sun was still warming his body. It felt nice. He felt serene and at peace. It felt so nice and good. He just wanted to close his eyes and-_ _

__A few hours later, he jerked his eyes open when he felt a hand grab his shoulder. Panic immediately sat in and he shot to his feet, mentally wondering how long it had been. The panic multiplied when he saw how dark the sky was outside._ _

__“Have a nice nap there, Landry?” Finley teased, through giggles, causing his face to heat up. Did he really just…_ _

__“I didn’t think it would be possible for someone to fall asleep with how much caffeine you consumed but…” Hayes said. Wow, even Hayes was getting on him._ _

__“Guys, I am so, so sorry-” Landry began, feeling the desperate need to explain himself._ _

__“Honestly, just take the day off if you want to nap on the job,” Reese said with a huff, clearly annoyed._ _

__Landry said, “It’s just-”_ _

__“Aww, Reese, don’t be too mean. He gave the guests something to laugh about, at least.”_ _

__Landry felt like dying of embarrassment right there and then. He gave up on trying to explain himself, just settling with apologizing and leaving work in a hurry, his face flushed._ _

__He promptly look the week off of work to try and work off his bad sleep schedule before he came back.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_ _

__“I eventually got it fixed but lord that had been hell…” Landry sighed, running a hand through his hair at just the memory._ _

__Silence greeted his words._ _

__Looking up in confusion, he said, “What?”_ _

__“I almost kind of wish Landry hadn’t gone,” Finley muttered._ _

__“WHAT?”_ _

__“You taking a nap?” Reese said, “Really? That was the most humiliating thing to happen to you being a cat?”_ _

__“Yeah, no offense, Landry, but that isn’t the most interesting story in comparison. It’s not that embarrassing either. I fell asleep all the time in class and stuff,” Avery said. If anything, she was more boggled at the sleep schedule Landry normally had. A whole day without yawning. What the heck?_ _

__“That information surprises none of us, Avery,” Reese sighed._ _

__“Hey!” Avery said, offended._ _

__Landry actually looked vaguely annoyed as he said, “Well sorry I couldn’t entertain y’all. I mean, I guess I have had a strong temptation to use the litter box every now and again but-”_ _

__Graves quickly interjected, “Actually, I have officially decided for everyone that we are totally fine with your story, Landry. Thank you.”_ _


	7. Graves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go!

All of a sudden, a clap rang out. Everyone turned their attention to Graves, who had his hands clasped together, and a borderline serene smile on his face. His voice light as a bell, he chirped, “Now that was quite a nice bonding experience, wouldn’t everyone agree?”

Avery had to admire Graves in a way. Anyone else probably would’ve wilted a little bit at having a bunch of death glares thrown their way. However, if Graves did notice them, he certainly didn’t seem to be affected by them. Instead, with the smile still present on his face, he turned his attention to Avery and merrily asked, “So, Avery, dear, do you feel like you’ve learned something from all of this?”

Oh great. Now all eyes were on her. Anxiety now shooting up a bit, she began, “Um…”

The truth was, she really hadn’t. But she wasn’t sure that was exactly the smartest thing to say at the moment. She wasn’t the most street-smart person in the world, but even she knew that one shouldn’t piss off a group of young adults. Especially young adults who said person worked with.

Unfortunately though, Avery had never been a master liar. Shrugging her shoulders, she managed out, “Uh… yeah… sure, I, um, guess…”

It didn’t even sound convincing to her own ears. But Graves, at least, seemed happy enough with her response. 

“Great! I am glad this proved beneficial to you!” Graves said. Then, scooting back his chair, he prepared to stand up, saying, “Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get to work. Mason and Hayes, thank you for cooking and-”

All of a sudden, a voicer rang out, causing everyone to freeze.

“Wait.”

It was only one word, but the power it held was immense. Everyone looked in shock at the person who dared to speak, holding their breaths as they waited to see how this scene would play out.

Graves was the first one of the group to recover. Blinking, he said, “Yes, Reese? Is something wrong?”

Reese was the only one of the employees who looked somewhat composed. In fact, Avery would go as far as to say he looked downright smug. More than usual, anyways. Raising an eyebrow, Reese said, “No, nothing is really wrong, per se.” Then crossing his arms and leaning back slightly in his chair, he said, “I’m just thinking about how a certain someone at this table hasn’t hold _his_ cat story yet.” 

Now all eyes were on Graves, waiting expectantly for his answer. 

Avery, once again, had to admire her boss. The pressure was definitely on him now, but he kept his cool, despite that. Giving a small smile, Graves said, “Now, Reese, we have wasted enough time on this adventure. You might want an excuse to flake off some work, but I am sure everyone else will want to return back to their usual duties.”

Avery expected Reese to get rightfully offended at this. After all, out of all of them, Reese had always been one of the most work-motivated. But surprisingly, Reese remained composed. Arching an eyebrow, he scanned the table and asked, “Does anyone have any work that needs to be done?”

His face fell just a tiny bit when everyone began to mutter a set of 'no's. Reese then turned to Graves expectantly, saying a victorious, “Well?”

Without missing a beat, Graves nodded to the door. “What if a customer comes in? We are technically open for business right now?”

All of a sudden, a humorless laugh rang out, followed by a, “That’s unlikely.”

Everyone looked in shock at Landry, who now had a hand clapped over his mouth, a slight blush coloring his face, as if he couldn’t believe he had just said that out loud. Seeming to accept the fact though that he said it and couldn’t take it back, he just ducked his head slightly and said, “It’s just uh… we never get customers on Monday...”

Avery had to agree. Avery had gotten used to Monday just being “play with cats” day, as the chances of a customer walking in would be as likely as seeing a unicorn out in the wild.

Graves cleared his throat, “Whether that is true or not, we should be prepared just in case-”

“Here, why don’t we make a deal?” Reese suddenly said diplomatically, clasping his hands together. “If a customer walks in any time during your story, then you can stop, no matter at what point, and we can no longer ask anything about it. On top of that, we’ll do whatever you want us to do. However, that is only _if_ a customer walks in. Unless you’re afraid of that not happening?” He arched a questioning brow.

Graves was beginning to look a bit concerned now. Smile still on his face though, he said, “Now surely Avery is tired and doesn’t want to hear another story?” Avery could definitely hear the edges of a plea entering his tone.

Great. Now the attention was back on her. Reese looked at her and asked, “Is that true, Avery?”

Avery could see Graves looking at her with flickers of fear in his heterochromatic eyes. After all, his fate literally laid in what she said next. She felt a bit bad. However, she had to be smart and practical about this. Realistically, she’d been put in a lose-lose situation. No matter what she chose, she’d be hurting some people. But after a few seconds of consideration, she knew the best choice to make. 

Sure, betraying her boss wasn’t the smartest of moves, objectively, but to her credit, Reese was more culpable in this situation than she was. If anyone was going to face the heat, it would hopefully be him.

Besides, Graves stayed in his room all day. She went some days without seeing him at all. Her coworkers, however, were a different matter. She had to be around them for most of her day, therefore, pissing them off was not in her best interest. 

So, without looking Graves in the eye, she said, “No, I don’t mind at all.”

Reese nodded, looking like the cat who ate the canary. Turning to Graves, he said, “Well?”

Graves must of known there was no use fighting anymore. With a sigh, he looked at everyone at the table, saying, “You are all awful…” before beginning with his tale. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------  
Graves had always appreciated cats. To him, they were some of the most perfectly designed creatures on earth. They were both cute and regal in appearance. But they didn’t just look good, they also were so full of personality as well. He had interacted with dozens of cats in his lifetime, and no two ever felt the same. They were unique in their looks, in their personality, in their energy, in the way they meowed… it was fascinating to see really. 

And having the power to turn into one only made him appreciate them more. He knew domesticated cats were built for survival in the wild slightly more than domestic dogs were, but he never really knew the extent. Whenever he freshly turned, he always found himself having to adjust a tiny bit to all the new sensations. His sense of smell became stronger, he could see so much further. If it was nighttime, it didn’t seem to matter, because he could see perfectly fine. His footsteps were silent and calculated and if his whiskers brushed up against too many things, he felt stressed out and his body weird. His ears could pick up the slightest sounds from even downstairs. Everything felt heightened and feral.

He’d done all of his previous transformations outside, wanting to see if other Witches tried to approach him when he wandered away from the boundaries of the restaurant. But now, he decided he wanted to test his power inside, cause he wanted to see how one particular lady would react.

That lady being his darling Dracula, of course. 

The two of them had always been very close. So close that he truly considered her one of his dearest friends. She’d been there with him through a good chunk of his life. 

And he couldn’t help but wonder if she would feel closer to him if he was in his cat form. 

So, when the work day was over and all of his employees had left, Graves transformed into his black cat form. After once again getting used to the sudden shift, he then began padding up to Dracula’s cat tree, meowing hopefully to see if he could get her attention.

It worked. Waking up from her nap, Dracula peeked her head out of the house and looked down at him, her eyes narrowed with what he thought was bleariness.

Part of him considered talking to her in his human voice, but he didn’t want to ruin the illusion completely. So he just looked at her again and let out another meow.

Dracula’s eyes narrowed even more, her pupils becoming slits and she let out a nasty hiss, her old, yellowing teeth bared. Graves flinched at the aggressive reaction. He knew female cats could be territorial towards other cats as well, but Dracula had been spayed and was so old, he thought her need to fight would’ve long died out.

“Dracula, dear…” Graves began, only to flinch back with shock when Dracula swatted at him, her claws unsheathed. The sharp points nicked his ear. Ouch. 

“Dracula!” he exclaimed in shock, but Dracula wasn’t done. Arching her back, she continued to hiss and growl, occasionally making lunges for him which he would have to dodge away from. Even his voice didn’t seem to be affecting her, she was too upset at this perceived intruder in her home. 

Finally, unable to take anymore, and fearing that she would actually attempt to claw his eyes out unless he turned, he turned back into a human form.

Dracula had blinked in shock as the cat she’d been attacking suddenly turned into her owner… but then her whole disposition changed and she began to purr and try to rub up against him. He reluctantly rubbed her ears, somewhat traumatized at seeing the cat he loved so much turn so vicious. 

Looking at Dracula, who looked up at him with innocent eyes, he sighed with defeat and said, “Remind me not to turn when you’re around, old girl.”

Dracula just purred in response.

\-------------------------------

“I still do not understand why she acted in such a way with me,” Graves finished with a shake of his head, “She is usually nicer to male cats, but I guess I was a brand new face and I hadn’t eased her into it. Either way, I am not risking that again, it was too upsetting.”

When he looked up, he saw everyone looking at him with faces of disappointment. Looking offended, he said, “What?!” 

Finley sighed and with a pout, said, “I don’t know, we were expecting a juicier story out of you then your cat being a little angry with you.”

Avery had to agree. She had expected a more sordid tale than that.

Graves however was not budging. Crossing his arms almost petulantly, he said, “Excuse me, that was a very upsetting moment for me!”

“Yeah, yeah…” a bunch of the people at the table muttered.

Graves sighed and said, “Well, I did what you wanted and told your tale. Now let’s end this for good, yeah?”

Everyone seemed happy to agree to that.


	8. Epilogue: Nacht

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for staying with me through this fic, everyone. I hope you enjoyed.

Stupid Graves. 

Stupid brats. 

Stupid everything!

Nacht growled lowly, feeling sharp claws spring out of the new paws he unfortunately had now. He swore he would get revenge on every single last person working in that wretched little cafe once he figured out how to get out of this form. 

No one humiliated him and got to live to tell about it. 

He would make them all _scream_. 

He would make them regret the day they were born.

So lost in his murderous thoughts Nacht was that he didn’t notice the form approaching him from behind. 

Nacht flinched when suddenly he found himself engulfed in a sea of puffiness and felt his feet get lifted off the ground. Yowling with surprise, he immediately tried to bite and claw at his foe, but unfortunately for him, the thick and fluffy material was impenetrable. His claws and teeth could only sink so far, but it was still too thick. 

Several panicked thoughts flooded through his mind. Whose magic was this? How did someone recognize he was a witch in the first place in this form? What did they want from him?

All of his thoughts of panic and fear died away when he heard an old woman’s voice speak, “Now what is a pretty little kitty such as yourself doing out here all by your lonesome self? It’s chilly out here!” 

All of a sudden, Nacht stopped squirming and writhing to reorient himself and analyze the situation he was in. Then he realized. This was no kind of strange magic. It was just an old woman with an extremely large and thick coat. He felt his ears flattened and he let out another growl under his throat. Unfortunately, the lady didn’t seem to hear him as she continued, “I’ll take you inside for a while until your owner comes. I have a puppy named Dexter at home, but I’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you too much-”

Nacht already felt himself feeling a sense of dread. He didn’t want to deal with a dog in this form at all. Giving up the idea of being able to claw or bite her, he tried his best to wriggle free. He knew from the days when Graves would try to make him catch Dracula for him, that cats could be slippery creatures. Perhaps he could free himself. 

Nacht desperately writhed and kicked… but all it did was put him in an even more uncomfortable position and cause the old lady to tighten her vice grip on him, scolding him. 

Eventually, Nacht became exhausted and he gave up. He glared in front of him.

Oh … once he got out of this form and managed to escape this accursed woman’s house, he as going to make Graves _PAY_ .


End file.
